Kick start your century training plan with these cycling motivational tips

Are you training for a century or some other big fitness challenge? Are you guilty of setting yourself training plans and then abandoning them after a week or so? In this article you will learn some top tips for staying motivated and committed to your century training program that will guarantee you reach your goal.

What motivates you to tackle a Century Bike Ride?

Training motivation is different for every cyclist. You need to find your personal carrot. we are all different. for some it is the thrill of competition both in races and in training with their peers. For others they need a consequence like a health scare or a reward like a medal or personal achievement such as finishing a 100 mile bike ride.

The important thing is to get beyond the structure and activity of the century training program and focus on the “why” or “what” that sparks your behaviour.

If you can identify this spark and harness it. You can use it build and maintain a strong cycling training habit that you will stick to. Your commitment won’t waver and you will see it through to the end.

Deep within you is a unique behaviour trigger that truly INSPIRES YOU.

Find this trigger and you find the key to long lasting cycling performance and training commitment.

Over time your bike training goals may change. Perhaps you will complete the 100 mile bike ride and will move up to double century rides or longer.

The constant that will remain is your underlying motivation for participating. What is it that you really want?

STOP BELIEVING THE HYPE.

We are bombarded by advertising and celebrity endorsements that would have us believe that it is easy to lose weight and reach our cycling goals. STOP BELIEVING THE HYPE. There is no easy way No quick shortcut. Achieving anything of substance and personal value takes hard work, dedication and effort.

You need to make a personal commitment to make progress towards your cycling goal. Expect it to take longer and be harder than you anticipate. This way you start the process with realistic but ambitious intentions.

Inevitably after a few weeks your motivation will take a dip

This is the critical time. This is the moment when you must break out of previous “life patterns” that have seen you abandon your cycling training goals. At this moment your entire plan. The entire program and goal is in BIG DANGER. It is so easy to quit. To walk away when it gets difficult. This is your first real test.

The simple answer to this issue is to just know it’s going to happen. Be ready for it. Then be aware that you are experiencing it but fight on. It only takes a few sessions and you will have passed this phase. So Keep going.

It is tempting to make really big changes in one go. For example to go from no exercise to every day. Setting really large goals straight away is a mistake. You are setting yourself up for a fall which will make the 2 week “motivational dip” bigger and more extreme and obviously more likely to cause you to stop the training program.

The art is to make small changes to your program.

MAke small commitments and feel early success. See the success in real life in terms of extra fitness on the bike or whatever you are working towards then gradually increase the rate of change. tackle progressively bigger challenges.

But do it from a personal position of strength. Small changes are easier to stick too. Small changes are easier to turn into habits. Turn something into a habit and you have it for life.

I created a short list below of some tips for staying motivated for your century training on the bike. You can’t and won’t have the time or motivation to do them all. The important thing is for you to select one or more of them that you can implement immediately. Do it today. Make one or more of them a part of your everyday cycle training program and you will start to see the success that you want.

1. Write down your primary cycling goal. Be specific and include a time schedule




2. Schedule your 1st 3 century training rides. Make sure to write down the date, time, place and put it in your diary.




3. Create a century training log with tangible performance numbers that you can compare over time to see and importantly, celebrate your successful progress.




4. Focus on quality training rides each with a purpose rather than quantity




5. Are you getting bored? Take a different route. Cycle different routes as often as possible to avoid stagnation.




6. Ride “out & back” rather than circular routes. This forces you to ride the distance / time that you have planned and committed to beforehand. You cannot abandon early as you have to get home!




7. Use your commute to work as training. this way you are getting the time for “free” and it doesn’t impact on your other time commitments so much. If the distance is too far to do both legs then ride in the morning one day then drive home. Next day drive in leave car at work and cycle home and so on. If journey is even longer than do this process but leave the car half way and repeat.




8. Concentrate on one goal at a time




9. Incorporate fitness and cycling into your everyday life. Make it a habit that is just part of life. It’s easy then to keep it up.




10. Training done as part of everyday life is just as valuable as sessions that you specifically label “training”. If your commute is 10 miles each way. Whatever way you look at it you have ridden 20 miles a day. With 1 long training ride at the weekend that is more than enough to ride a century.




11. Leading on from the point above it still counts as training whether you are wearing lycra and dressed in all the gear or whether you are in work clothes. As an example I recently cycled to Germany with was an 1800km round trip wearing jeans and a T-shirt. My only item of cycle specific clothing were my sidi road shoes.




12. cellebrate and remember your cycling results and training success. I’m not talking about the big prize I mean the everyday training goals. the little milestones along the way that are the journey. Take pictures regularly of the little things to remind you of each moment.




13. Write down the reasons WHY you are riding the 100 mile bike challenge. What prompted you to start training for a century ride.




14. Keep a journal. Record your thoughts, progress, ideas and anything else that comes to mind. It is both a wonderful moment and also a huge positive motivator and help to your ongoing commitment levels.




15. Train for a century ride with a friend. Probably most useful and helpful tip at the end. Share the motivation. If your motivation dips then your training partner can push you along and help you back on track. Simply by having a time commitment that involves someone else makes it much harder to quit and more likely that you will be successful in your goal.

Community Conversation

CSRolling has written a great post with 5 ideas to stay motivated in exercise. Check it out

You can do it!

This is a new website and I would really appreciate your help in raising awareness. If you enjoyed this article please take a moment to comment or share it on Facebook or Twitter. I would really appreciate it. Thanks and keep cycling. David Ertl has published a fantastic ebook 101 Cycling Workouts. You should check it out.

Luke Bream

P. S. If you enjoyed the article then please stay in touch. You can do this by joining our email newsletter or become a FAN on Facebook or how about subscribing to the RSS feed.

P. P. S. Are you getting the fitness and weight loss goals you desire? Maybe I can help you. To find out more check out Cycling Training

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